Date: 12 May Monday (Day 1)
Starting Point: Brunswick, ME
Ending Point: Bridgton, ME
Via: Freeport, North Yarmouth, Gray North Windham, Raymond, South Casco, Naples
Mileage: 65.9
Time: 6:16
Mph: 10.5
Terrain: moderately hilly
Temperature High: 65
Temperature Low: low 50’s
Lunch: Mickey D’s grilled chicken, fries
Dinner: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Weather: windy, overcast
Lodging: Salmon Point Campground
Cumulative Mileage: 65.9
Miles to Go: about 1,695
Projected Distance: 1,761
Without fanfare I rolled out of the driveway at 10am, which was about 1 hour later than I had wanted, but I was still packing in the morning. It proved impossible to finish it at 2:30am for some reason.
There are no pictures today and this is due to the challenge I’ve experienced in other rides: it’s extremely challenging to find something to photograph in an area with which one is very familiar. I’ve driven the stretch from Brunswick to Bridgton many times, usually to climb Pleasant Mountain so I didn’t notice anything noteworthy. Going through Naples was an unusual experience. Every time I’ve ever been through there, the crowds have been almost overwhelming. It is a prime summer destination, what with Lake Sebago, Brandy Pond and Long Lake right there. Today, though, there was no one…it was grey, deserted and none of the businesses between the two lakes were open. I had sort of hoped for a hot chocolate, but had to content myself with only the thought of such.
Today was the first day I was using this new GPS system to rely on for directions and there were anomalies that I couldn’t figure out. The first thing I should have noticed (which would have prompted me to call Garmin while on the road) was that the route it plotted from Brunswick to North Yarmouth was an exact straight line and didn’t follow the route. I thought that perhaps that’s how it was supposed to work. Then in North Yarmouth itself it wanted me to turn at a road that didn’t exist. Shortly after that it was me to cross a body of water across which there was no bridge. You have to understand that I had never used one of these in this way. It also didn’t give me turn by turn directions, but I wasn’t aware that I should have had those! After Grey the worst misdirection occurred: It wanted me to go down a road, Ramsdell Road and it had a route line that went across a lake. I was a little nervous about this, but at the entrance of Ramsdell there was no Dead End sign posted. Five miles later I arrived at Little Sebago Lake and found no road where the route told me to go. Fortunately, at least, it wasn’t ten miles. So I turned around and took the route I knew from Grey to Bridgton and totally ignored the GPS. In the evening I called Garmin and discovered that in the process of creating routes in the software (which worked fine, by the way) I missed a crucial step: I hadn’t downloaded the maps from the software into the GPS. Normally I’m very adept at computer stuff, but this process wasn’t intuitive at all; there was no warning message to tell me NOT to miss that step. After a half an hour on the phone, the problem was solved. A Trek across Maine friend told me just a day before that GPS’s are not as smart as they hyped up to be. If only I had listened.
From years passed, I have always found that locals distance estimates are ALWAYS suspect. This is not out of malice (as far as I know), but rather it’s difficult to gauge distance in a car. At one stop on Route 302 I stopped at a gas station for some energy drink and asked the clerk how far Bridgton was. He discussed it with his co-worker and they reported that, “Oh, let’s see, Naples is 10 miles and Bridgton is just a couple beyond that.” Just about 200 yards down the road there was a sign “Bridgton 18 miles.” I thought Maine might have been immune from the kind of miscalculation all too common out in Montana.
Since I’m writing this article the morning after a night at the campground, I can report on last evening. The owner of the campground suggested I could get dinner at Ricky’s Diner in town and said it was just a mile into town. I wasn’t going to believe that for a second. It had been a long day and settled for a very simple meal as outlined up above. At least it saved cooking time!
I had some neighbors, a teenaged girl and two teenaged guys. I was a little concerned about noise and had foreseen just such a circumstance so out came the earplugs. I had a brief conversation with them; I told them about the ride I was doing for the Lung Association. They listened intently as they puffed on their cigarettes. Later that evening they didn’t play loud music; they just had a portable TV on their picnic table and were watching it while I was blissfully falling asleep. Sometime in the night, my earplugs fell out and there were other kinds of noises coming from those neighbors. It was clear what was going on in general, but the images their activities conjured up made for interesting logistical theories. This went on for some time, but finally I was able to fall back to sleep. I suppose the sensible person would have re-inserted the earplugs earlier!
Sometime near dawn there was a bard owl singing as well as loons and other birds that I couldn’t identify.
The plan was to go into town in the morning and experience the fine cuisine of Ricky’s. Indeed it is scrumptious.
Date: 11 May Sunday (Pre-Ride)
As I begin this chronicle it is still Sunday night (11:24pm), so it is still legitimate to call it the pre-ride reflection. All that remains to be done at this point is writing this article, emailing it to the editor of The Times Record newspaper, posting it to the web log (http://biketrek.typepad.com), packing, notifying all my sponsors of the results thus far, and sleeping. It was just the other day that I heard a brief report on NPR about some secrets to packing. The person describing the secrets mentioned that most people leave packing until the night before. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t be one of those. I did have the best intentions, but those went the way of most other good intentions.
Sad to say, but one of the people to whom I dedicated last year’s ride, Bill Paschke, did pass away in 2007 from lung disease. He was 50 years old. He is first on my list of people to remember who have suffered from the effects of tobacco and died from them. I would also like to dedicate this ride to other who passed away from lung disease: Cookie Aitro, Julia Bigelow, Rose Delcore, Richard Durfee, George Fischer, Blanche Fischer, and Marilyn Settlemire. I would also like to dedicate this ride to two people who are still living with lung disease: Patricia Greene and Ginny Siddall.
In the process of calling around Northern New England to make reservations along the way of this 1,700-mile loop, I have had several conversations with people that touched me. I’ve been calling campgrounds, motels, hotels, B&B’s, debris huts (Author’s Note: a debris hut is a disgusting hole in the ground packed lightly with leaves, grasses, pine branches and ticks. It is like a one-person motel room in nature. The debris serves to keep in warmth.), cabins and friends/acquaintances/supporters who have homes to try and secure lodging along the way. Normally I tell each person that I’m bicycling through as part of a larger ride to raise money for the American Lung Association of Maine (ALAME). I don’t expect special treatment, but a discount would be nice! One owner of a campground in the western mountains of Maine was moved by the fact that I was doing this ride. She said, after a time in our conversation, “You know what? You can have the campsite for free. Why am I doing that? Because I can.” After finishing our conversation and reservation, I wrote a follow-up email to thank her. She wrote back quickly saying, “Please, don't thank me. It's the least I can do. My mom and, recently, my dad both died from lung diseases, so I should be thanking you for taking this trip.” Even as I remember our conversation and her generous spirit, I’m very touched by her and grateful to her. That one sentiment makes me glad that I’m going through with this ride, despite the hills, black flies, solitude, and challenging fund-raising in year when oil, gas and food prices went through the roof.
This year I had to design the route myself so I made extensive use of the Internet, Google™, Google Earth™ and Garmin™ GPS mapping software to calculate distances and sensible routes. During the ride I plan on using this GPS to keep me on track. I do have a paper back-up, though, just in case.
Finally, the ride itself can be described as follows: a 1,700-mile loop around Northern New England (ME, NH and VT) with one tiny sortie into Québec, north of Burlington). The general outline is thus: Brunswick, Bridgton, Holderness(NH), Winooski(VT), Conway(NH), Bingham(ME), Jackman, Greenville, Fort Kent, Van Buren, Houlton, Anson and Sunday River. The plan is to arrive 2 days before the start of the official signature ride of the American Lung Association of Maine, the Trek Across Maine. The Trek then passes through Farmington, Waterville and, on the third day, ends in Belfast. As a fine anti-climax to the previous 1,650 miles, I will bicycle home from Belfast over 1 or 2 days, depending on weather, mood and whether Mister Bagel, Amato’s and Sweet Leaves Teahouse will still be open when I arrive.
To date, I have actually collected $25,611 from 285 sponsors, with promises of about $900 from 26 more. (Come on, people! Please go the website now, http://www.lungme.org/pledgejohn.htm, and make it happen.) Initially, my goal this year was $30,000 since that is what I raised last year. However, I lost a significant number (as in, more than 100) of sponsors either through attrition, bad economy, or moving away and successfully eluding my expert use of Google™. I readjusted my goal to $25,131 (a strange number, you say?) because that figure, added to what I’ve raised in the past 12 years, $164,869, brings my total to $190,000. So, even though my original goal proved too ambitious, I’m happy and extremely grateful to all my sponsors who continue to support ALAME in their important work around tobacco use prevention/cessation, asthma research and education, other lung disease research, legislative efforts, and clean air. One of the many noteworthy efforts of the Lung Association in 2008 was the successful legislation to protect children from second-hand tobacco smoke while riding in cars.
As I embark on another adventure on wheels (without the motor!), I must express a warm expansive thank you to all who have continued to be supportive of my efforts by donating to the Lung Association. I would especially like to thank Lee Huston of Center Street Cycles in Brunswick who freely gave of his valuable expertise, time and tools to get me on my way safely, efficiently and comfortably.
Monday, May 12th, is the official start of the ride and I expect to be back in Brunswick by June 16th or 17th. Again, my plan is to write for both The Times Record and my web log. Please visit both and feel free to send comments by email to the editor, Jim McCarthy (jmccarthy@timesrecord.com) or leave comments on the web log at http://biketrek.typepad.com.
It is time to sign off as I still have to pack and it is now Monday after 1am.
If you enjoyed these columns last summer, are happy to read more about of my adventures this year and you have not yet become a supporter of the American Lung Association of Maine and this ride, please consider giving. It is fully tax-deductible and if you donate through this ride, I can assure you that your name will not be sold or misused in any way.
Please go to the website: http://www.lungme.org/pledgejohn.htm
There you can plug in an amount and see the status of my fund-raising. Thank you in advance for any support you may give.
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